AML ti‘The cancept that coreponds to a shell is 40 clear, so hard, sad sure hat 2 pot, table simply to draw ie ad, reluced rather to speaking of ib at Bot a 2s for images. He is areed in his fight towards dress values by the geometrical reality of the forms And these forms ae so numerous, often so original, that alter pst tive examination ofthe sell words the imagination de fest >y realty. Here ie is nature that imaging, and ature very clever. One has only to look a Petre of ammontes(o realae that, as ealy st the Mesowie Age, ‘olluis constructed their shells acting tothe tne, ings ofa wanscendenal geometry. Aone but they homes mound the axis of logurithmic spa (A ney dear acount of this conutuction of geometieal tomas by Iie maybe readin Monod Hersens excelent book (A pox naturally understands ths eee exegory of Ue, ané Paul Valeryseauy Les coquilges (hell) By Yeah the spit of geome. For Vales "A pte, flower or x sel wands oot rom the wual anda de, ‘most pereptibl things. They are privileged iat are more ineligible forthe eye, cven though Iserious forthe mind, than all the others we te Morne, Pipes de “Yo Gar Var rth ae eb orc, oe we he ning ine the nace wets ls The poneny o's poco th mre et106 the postin of space indistinety.”* For this poet, whose thinking was enentially (Cartesian, a shell seems to have been a ruth of well oid fed animal geometry, and therefore “clear and distin.” ‘The created object itself is highly imteligible; and ie isthe formation, not the form, that remains mysterious. AX t0 ‘the form it would eventually astume, 2 vital deision gor. fered the inal choice that involved knowing. whether ‘the shell would col to he left or tothe right. This original vortex has provoked endles commentary. Actually, how- ‘ever, life begins less by reaching upward, than by ‘upon ivelf Bue what & marvelously insidious, eubte image ‘of life 2 coiling vital principle would be! And how many ‘dreams the leftward oriented shell, or one that didnot ‘conform to the rotation of its species, would inepitel Paul Valéry lingered long over the ideal of 2 modeled, ‘or carved object that would justify its absolute value by the beauty and solidity of Its geometrical form, while remaining’ unconcerned with the simple matter of pro- tcctng its substance. In this ase, che mollusk’ motto would be: one must ive to build one's howe, and not build one howe to live in. ‘However, in a second stage of his meditation, Valéry ‘Becomes aware of the fact that a shell carved by a maa ‘would be obtained fom the outside, through a series of ‘cnumerable acs that would bear the mark of touched Deauty: whereas “the mollusk exudes its shell” (loe. ek 1p to) it let the building material “seep through.” its marvelous covering a8 needed.” And when the starts, the house is already completed. In this way slow, continuous formation. of his meditation, ‘museum of forms. The collection is ustrated colors by PaulA, Robert who, before he started hnad prepared the object by polishing all the delicate polishing laid bare the roots of the ‘Paul Vary, Lv merle de mer a oul sade it posible to paripate in a will to color, in the very history of coloration. And a cis point the house warns fut to be so beautiful, so deeply beautiful, that it would be a sacrilege even to dress of living in it ‘A phenomenologist who wants to experience the images of the fonction of inhabiting must oe be subject o the charms of external beauty. For generally, beauty exteriories and Gisturbs intimate meditation. Nor can a phenomenologat follow for long the conchologs, whose duty iti to claaty the immense variety of shells, and who is looking for di verity. However, 2 phenomenologist could learn a lot {rom a conchologs, ifthe latter were to share with him his ‘own original amazement. Yor here too, as with nest enduring interest should begin with the original amazement of a nalve observer. Init posible for a creature to remain slive inside stone, ‘Inside this pice of stone? Amazcment ofthis kind is rarely {ele ewice. Life quickly wears it down. And besides, for one “living” shell, bow many dead ones there arel For one i Iabited shel, how many are empty! Bau an empey shell, ike an empty next, invites daydreams refuge. No doubt we overseine our dayéreams when we ‘Such simple images ab these. Buti is my belief that jst should go inthe direction of maximum - And therefore T believe chat itis worthwhile ' phenomenology of the inhabited shell sign of wonder is exaggeration, And since the of shell an amare the imagination will Amating ceature, more amazing tan realy, fhe el in urs Bvoihs foevlune moyen dgefantasigue, we fad repreductins in which "the moat unexpected aniacie sag ora dog, come out of shel xs fom106 the pote of pace Indistnetly.”s For this poet, whote thinking was esentialy (Cartesian, a shell seems to have been 2 truth of well oid fied animal geometry, and therefore “clear and distin.” ‘The created object itselt is highly intelligible; and itis the formation, not the form, that Yemains myrterioat. Ax to the form it would eventually asume, «vital decision gov. ‘emed the initial choice that involved knowing whether the shel would col othe left or wo the right. This original vortex has provoked endles commentary. Actually, how. ‘ve, life begins les by reaching upward, than by toring ‘upon itself Bue what 2 marvelovsly insidious, subtle image ‘of life a coiling vital principle would be! And Bow many ‘reams the leftward oriented shell, or one that did not ‘conform to the rotation ofits species, would inepirel Paul Valéry lingered long over the ideal of « modeled, or earved object that would justify its absolute value by the beauty and solidity of Su. geometrical form, while remaining’ unconcerned with the simple matter of pro: tectng its substance. In this ese, che mollusk's moto would be: one must live to build one's howe, and not build one oust live in, However, in a second stage of hit meditation, Valéry becomes aware of the fact that a shell carved by & mam would be obtained from the outside, dhrough 2 series of ‘enumerable acs that would bear the mark of touched. ‘beauty: whereas “the mollusk exuder its shell” (006. ek to) icles the bullding material "seep through’ ‘ts marvelous covering needed.” And when the staru, the hovse {s alteady completed. In this way returns to the mystery of forgiving life, the slow, cantinuous formation, ‘But this relerence to slow formation is only one of his meditation, and this book i an in ‘museum of forms. The collection is usrated. colors by Paul-A. Robert who, before he started had prepared the object by polishing all the delicate polishing lid bare the rots of the Daal Vall, Ler evil del mr La collage 107 sete sade it posible o participate in a will to color, in the very hitory of coloration. And at this poin dhe house tra ‘out to be 40 beautiful, so deeply beautiful, that it would be a sailege even to dream of living init. ‘A phenomenologist who wants to experience the images of the function of inhabiting must not be subject o dhe charms of external beauty. For generally, beauty exterorzes and Sisturhs intimate meditation. Nor can a phenomenologst follow for long the conchologi, whore duty ite to claify the immense variety of shells, and who is looking for d- verity. However, a phenomenologist could learn a lot from a conchologs, che latter were to sare with him his ‘own original amazement. Yor here too, 25 with nests, enduring interest should Degin with the original amazement of a naive observer. inside this piece of tone? Amazement ofthis kind i ately {ele ewice. Life quickly wears fe down, And besies, for one “living” shell, bow many dead ones there are! For one ine Aabited shel, how many are empty! Bucan empty shell ike an empry nest, invites daydreams tefuge. No doubt we oversefine our daydreams when we such simple images at these. Buti is my belief that should go in the direction of maximum Sign of wonder is exggerasion. And since the fa shel can anase wh the imagination wil Amaing ceature, mare amazing than really, ite shell In Jurgis Baltrusitis's fine volume open dge fonastgue, we Gnd reprodactions {in which “the mow unexpected animal 2g. dog. come out ots shel fom108 the poets of space fut of a magician’s hat." This compariton with a magi- an’ hat will be quite wseles to anyone who taker up his position in the very center where imager develop. When we accept slight amazement, we prepare ourselves to Imagine great amazement and inthe world of the imagins ton, it becomes normal for an elephant, whichis am enor ‘mous animal, to come out of a snail shell. It would be ‘exceptional, however, if we were to atk him to go Back into i Ima later chapter, {shall have an opportunity to show that, in che imagination, to go in and come out are never symmetrical images. "Large, free animal escape mystri ‘ously from some small object,” writes Baltusitis,and he adds: "Aphrodite was born in these conditions." Beauty and magnitude cause spores to swell, As I shall show later, fone ofthe powers of attraction of smallness les inthe fact that large things can issue from small onex Everything about a creature that comer out of shell it ialecical. And since it does not come out entirely, the part that comes out contradic the pare that remains icy fide, The creature's rear parts remain imprisoned in the solid geometrical forms. But life ie in such haste when it ‘comes out that it does not always take on a designated form, such as that of a young hare or a camel. Certain ‘engravings show strangely mixed creatures, as in dhe ate ‘ofthe snail shown in this work by Baltusitis (p58), "with {bearded human head and hares ear, weal ‘mite, and with four animal feet” The shell i a wl ‘cauldron in which bestiality is brewing, Accoeding €9 trusstis, "Les Heures de Marguerite de Beaujeu” are ‘of grotesque figures of this Kind. Several of them have farded their shells and remained coled in the form of shell Heads of dogs, wolves and birds, as well ax Iheade, are attached directly to mols” And bridle, bestia! daydream produces diagram for ened version of animal evolution. In her wore “Jus Barut, Le moyer-ge fetta 9G ‘erg Bai oe po -om he cm sw er ihe he wn oe 109 shee to achieve grotesquenes, it slices o abridge an evolution. ‘And the faces that a creator that comes out of its sell soggests daydreams of a mixed creature that i not only hall fh, half flesh” but also half dead, half alive, and, in extreme cates, half stone, half man. This is jst the opposite ofthe daydream that petifes us with fer. Man is born of Stone. If In C.G. Jungs book Poychologie und Alehemic, wwe examine closely the figure shown on page 86, we set Melusins, not the romantic Melsines that spring from the waters of lakes, but Melusines that are symbols of alchemy, who help us to formulate dreams of the sone from which the principles of fear sid to come, Melusine cially comes forth trom her saly, gravelly tai, which reaches back into the distant past, and i slighty spiraled. ‘We have not the impression that this inferior being hat retained its energy. The tilshell doesnot eject its iabie fant. eis rather a matter ofan inferior form of life having ‘een reduced to nothing by a superior one, Here, a eae! where, life is energetic at its summit. And this summit ac ulres dynamism in the Snished symbol of the human Being, forall dreamers of animal evolution have man in ‘mind. In thee drawings of alchemical Melusines, the hi- ‘man form issues from a poor, ayed form, to which the fart has devoted litle cre. But inertness doesnot incite 4o daydreaming, and the shell is » covering that wil be “The forces of eres are such, the forces of pro- And birth are wo alive, that two human beings, Both indems, may be seen half emerged from the form abel, in figure 11 of Jung's book. This i the “doppel- "or tworheaded Melusine ‘ofthese examples furnish us with phenomenological for a phenomenology of the verb "to emerge,” fare all the more purely phenomenological in that to invented types of “emergence.” In this animal is merely a pretext for multiplying the of “emerging” Man lives by images. Like all in bef emerge fom would demand considerable course of which, besides concrete examples, lect the hardly percepeible movement of ce.MO the poetic of space abstractions. We seme litle or no more action in ‘grammatical derivations, deductions or inductions. Even ‘yerbs become congealed a if they were nouns. Only images ‘an Set verbs in motion aguin. On the shell theme, in addition to the dialectics of small and large, the imagination is stimulated by the dialectics fof creatures that are free and others that ate in fetes: and. ‘what can we not expect fom those that ae unfetered! To be sure, in real life, a mollusk emerges fom its shell Jndolenty, so if we were studying the actual phenomena ‘of snail “behavior,” this behavior would yield to observae tions with no diay If, however, we were able to reap ‘ture absolute nalveté in our observation il, hati, realy to reexperience our inital observation, we should give fresh impetus to the complex of fear and curiosity that companies all inal action on the world. We want to See and yet we are alraid to see. This is the perceptible threshold of all knowledge, the threshold upon which in terest wavers, falters, then returns. The extmple at hand for the purpose of indicating the fear and catioity com. plex is not sizable one. Fear ofa anal ie calmed isnned fly, isan old story, itis “insigiicane” But then this study is devoted co insignificant things. Occasionally they reveal strange subdete. In order to bring them out I sall place them under the magaityng glat of the imagination: ‘These undulations of fear and cusisty increste reality isnot here to moderate them, that i, when We imagining. However let’ not invent, but rather give ments concerning images which have actually been tne dr, ‘and which he remained ‘nga precious and other stones. There isa pasiage in by Jurgs Baltusitis in which he recalls the ation ait who shows a dog that “leaps from its ppounces upon a rabbit One degree more of ness and the shellog would atack a man. This fxample of the progresing type of action by Mi shee hich imagination spats ely. For here the magia tion acs upon not only geomerial dimensions, but Upon tlements of power snd sped aa well-not in a0 enlarged {pac ltr bo n'a more rapid tempo, When the moon Plcore camera scclestr the welling of tower, we Feecie 4 ble image of ofeing its thowgh the flower we sce opening to quill and without reeration, tem the meaning of a ita though it were pe ooh the word But ithe cinema showed = sail Cneging from it shell in fae motion. or pushing i ores toa the sky very rapidly, what an aggreion that woul el ‘Wat tggrenive bora Al our caroaty woud be blocked by ears ad he fear curiosity complex would be tor pare. “There fs» sgn of violence fn all thee figures in which an oeresiied creature emerge fom a lite wel Here the aie preipstes his tinal daydream Sine they telong to te nme ype of dayteams, ve most anodate abireiaons of animal that have threads od le fastened together-the aris having neglected 1 chow the Intermediary par of tier boucs-with thee nalabells from whic emerge quadrpecy, bis and human being, “Todo say with what is beeen ofcourse om eal of ‘pect, and thanks vos sort ofsrleration of the inagined “Mia impute cestre tht emeses om the pound inely asses piognemy But the vious dynamism of thee exravagant Sars Sin the facta they come alive in the dati of what and what is manifest. A Gesture that ies tod io is shes preparing + "way oaths Sf heen al of metaphor, rom the rere an in his grave tothe nsden outburst ot one Mong been sent it we resin athe her ofthe fonsideration, we have the impresion th {i te moinlenne of i shell the sestre Jemporal explosions, not to ny vhivinds of JBon dynamic apes uke place in coe of td not in the Baby latins of te asy nly desire isto go and be lary teewher, the imaginary paradox ofa vigor tolU2 the poetic of space Tuk—the engravings in question give ut excellent depic- tions of them—we attain to the mott deckive type of aggresivenes, which i+ postponed. aggressiveness, agree slvenes that bides its time: Wolves in shells are crueler than, stray ones, By adhering to a method which seems to me decisive in a Phenomenology of images, and which consists of desig: ‘ating the image as an exces of the imagination, Ihave accentuated the dialectics of large and small, hidden and ‘manifest, placid and aggresive, abby and vigorous. I have also followed the imagination to a point well beyond real ity, in is tak of enlargement, for In order to surpass, one ‘ust first enlarge. We have sen how freely the imagination acts upon space, time and elements of power. But the action ‘ofthe imagination is nat limited to the level of images. On. the level of ideas too, it tends towards extern, and there re ideas that dream. For instance, certain theories which were once thought to be acientic are, in reality, vat, boundlest daydreams. 1 should like to give an example of 4 dreamsidea ofthis type, which takes Use sella dhe clear feat proof of life's ability to constitute forts. According to this theory, which vas propounded in the eighteenth een. tury by J.B. Robinet, everything thc has form has shell ‘ontogeneiy and It's prineipsl efor i to make abel is my opinion that at the center of Robine’s immeme evolutionary table there was a vast dream of shells Indeed the ttle alone of one of his books: Puce philorophiques de a gradation naturelle des formes de tre, ov ex ens de 4a nature qui apprend a faire thomme (Philowphical views onthe natural gradation of forme of existence OF attempts made by nature while lerning to este “Amsterdam, 1768), deribes the orientation of his ing. Thote who have the patience to read the entre will discover 2 veritable commentary, in dogmatic ‘on the type of drawings T mentioned carlier. Here £09) tal enimal forms appear on every side. Foils for US sete are bits of life, roughcasts of separate organs, which will God ‘their coherent life at ehe wummit of an evolution that i preparing the way for man. We might «ay thatthe inside (of 4 man's body is an assemblage of shell Each organ has its own causality, that has already been ied out during the long centuries when mature wat teaching hell 10 make man, with one shell or another. The function con struc its form from old. models, and lie, although only ‘arta, constructs its abode the way the shelfch construct ite shel ‘fone can succeed in reliving this partial lif, in the precision ofa life that endows ise with a form, the being ‘that possesses form dominates thousands of years. For every form retains life, and a fossil is not merely a being that ‘once lived, but one that is stil alive, asleep in is form. ‘The shell isthe most obvious example ofa universal shell. oriented life. ‘Al of this is famly stated by Robinet* “I amr persuaded that fos are alive" he wits, "if not from the standpoint ‘of an exterior form of life, for the reaton that they lack perhaps certain limbs and senses, (I thould hesitate to Amer this however, at lease from that of an interior, Bide den form of lif, which is very real ofits kind, eventhough ‘gute inferior to that of x sleeping animal or plant, But far be it from me to deny them the organs necessary tothe functioning of their vital economy. And whatever theit Teonsder it as progres toward the for of their in dhe vegetable world, among insects, large ani- and, lastly, among men.” fs book goes on to give descriptions, accompanied Nery fine engravings, of Lithocardites (hear stone), (hich are 2 prelude to the brain), stones that 4 jaw-bone, the foot, the kidney, the ear, the eye, Mand muscles—then Orch, Diorehis, Triorchis, the Golites and Phalloids, which imitate the male fod Hinterapetia, which imitate the female organs ‘bea mistake to see nothing in this bu a refer PaM4 the peter of space ence to language habits that name new objets by compar Ing them with other commonplace ones. Here names think and dream, the imagination is acive Lidhocardites are Iheart shell, rough draughts of a heart that one day will, beat. Robinet's mineralogical collections are anatomical ‘reso what man willbe when nature learns to make him. ‘A critial mind will object that our eighteenth century nat- ‘uralnt was a "victim of his imagination.” A phenomenol- ‘ogit, however, who avoids all criticism on principe, can- ‘not fail to recognize that in the very extravagance of the Deing given wo words, in the extravagance of his images, is ‘manifexed a profound daydream. On all oceasions Robinet ‘thinks of form, from the inside out. For him, life originates orm, and itis perfectly natural cae lif, which is che use ‘of forms should create living forms. Once again, for such ‘daydreams at hese, form isthe habitat of life ‘Shells like foul, are so many attempts on the part of nature to prepare forms of the diferent pars of the human body; they ae bits of man and bis of woman. Ia fact Rob ret gives @ description of the Conch of Venus that repre sents a woman's vulva. A psychoanalyst would not fal t0 {ees sexual bain in these designations snd descriptions that enter into ruch detail, Nor would he have any did culty finding, inthe shell museum, such representations of fantams a that of the toothed vagina, which is one of the principal themes of Marie Bonsparte’s study of Edgar ‘Allan Poe. Indeed, if we listened ro Robine, we should be Inclined to belive that nature went mad before man did, ‘And one can imagine the diverding reply chat Robinet ‘would make in defense of his system tothe observations of Deychoanalsts or prychologis. With simple gravity be ‘wrote: "We should not be surprised at che assidity wih ‘which Natare has multiplied models of the generative ‘rans, in view of the importance of there organs.” (oe. ele P73) ‘With a dreamer of scholarly thoughts such as who organized his visionary ideas into sytem, a U5 hate analyst accustomed to untangling family complexes would, bbe quite powerless. We should need a eosmie psychoanalys, fone that would abandon for a vcond human considerations ‘and concern iuelf with dhe contradictions of the Coxon We should also need psychoanalysis of matter which, at the same time that it accepted the human accompaniment fof the imagination of matter, would pay clover atention fo the profound play ofthe images of inate. Here, in the ‘ery limited domain in which we are studying images, we ‘should have to resolve the contradictions of the shell which at times i so ough outside and so sft, so pearly, in its {nimacy. How is it posible 1o obtain this polish by means of friction with a creature that isso soft and Aabby? And Goesn't the finger that dreams as it strokes che intimate mother of pest! surface surpass our human, all too human, reams? The simplest things are sometimes psychologically complex. ‘But if we were to allow ourselves to indulge in all the aylreams of inhabited stone there would be no end to it (Guriously enough, these daydreams are at once long and Iriel Te is possbie to go on with them forever, and yet ‘flection can end them with a single word. At the slightest sign, the shell becomes human, and yet we know immed ‘nly hac itis not human. With a shell the vital inhabit ‘ng impulse comes to 2 close too quicly, nature obeaine quickly the security of a shutin lf. But a dreaher ie to believe that the work i Gnished when the walls Doll, and thus itis that shelleonstructing dreams give and action to highly geometrically sociated molecules these dreams, the shel, in the very tue ofits matter, Proof of this may be found in a grest natural Prion, Father Kircher, once asserted that om the Silly “he shels of shell sh, after being ground to {206 to life again and stare reproducing, it this is with salt water” The AbDE de Valle-116. the poetic of space mont cites tis fable asa parallel to that of the phoentx that rises from its atx Here, thea, isa water phoenix. However, the ABb¢ de Vallemont gives litle credence to the fable of either one ofthese phoenixes. Bu fr me, whose ‘oullook is governed bythe inaginaton, there can be but fone conciion’ both phoenines were products of the Imagination. ‘These are facts of the imagination, the very positive facts of the imaginary worl. “Moreover, these facu of the imagination are related to allegories of very ancien origin, Jurgis Baltrusatis reals (Une et gp) eat aslate asthe Carolingian epoch, burial {grounds often contained snail shellean allegory ofa grave fn which man will avaken.” And in Le Bestiare du Christ, '. 922, CharbonnentxLastay writes: “Taken as a whole, ‘with bodh is ard eovering and ts sentient organism, the Shell, for the Ancients, was the symbel ofthe human being {in its eniery, body tnd soul. In fact, ancient symbolic, ‘ed the shell ara symbol for the human body, which en- clote the oul in an ouside envelope, while the soul qulek- fens the entre being, represented by the organism of the ‘mollusk. That, they sid, the body becomes lifelew when the soul has lef it Inthe same way that the shell becomes Incapable of moving when itis separated from the part that gives it life” A wealth of documentation could be auembled on the subject of “resurrection shelln"® There is ‘ho need, however, given the simplicity of the problems treated in tis work, for us to insist on very remote tad tions Al we have todo isto ak ourselves how, inthe ease ‘of certnin naive daydream, she simple lagen cam aureus 4 tradition, CharbonseauscLasay says these things with the simplicity and salveté one could wish. After quoting the Book of Job with it invinible hope of reuureciom. Ihe adds, (Lo. cit, p. get): "How did it happen that the AND de Valmont Cri de ate de Pat a I bli tio ou Fart ee ednage dt lor perfection, tl Chroot Lanny qu ito a bic He sh rea 17 shette ‘ulet earth:bound snail should have been choten to sym otis this ardent, invincble hope? ‘The explanation is that atthe gloomy time of year, when Winters death holds earth in its grip, the sail plunges deep into the ground, shuts itself up inside is sel, a though in a. cofia, by ‘means ofa strong, limestone epiphragm, until Spring comes and sings Easter Hallelujahs over its grave . . » Then {ears down its wall and reappear in broad! daylight, ull of ia 1 shal ask readers who may be inctned to smile at such cnthusiam, to ty to imagine the amazement of the ache lopist who discovered in'a grave in the Indre et Loire department “a cofin that contained neatly three hundred ‘mail shells placed about the skeleton from fet to wait fine” Such 2 contact with a elit places us a the origin of all belief. A lost symbolise: begins to collec dreams aga Al the proofs that we are obliged to present one alter the other, of capacity for renewal, of resurrection of re avakening of being, must be taken as eaalescence of ev. ies If we add to thee allegories and symbols of resurrection ‘he synthesizing nare of dreams of the powers of tater, ‘We understand the fat that profound dreamers are unable forule out the dream of a water phoenix. The shell we hich a resurrection is being prepared in the synthesis. ream, is subject to resrrection. For ifthe dus ia the ‘an experience resuretion, there jt no reston why lverizd shell shoud not recaptare ite apiraling ‘pune, a critical mind will soft at unconditioned land a realist woull soon demand control exper- Hire, as elsewhere, he would want (0 verily the ‘by confronting them with reality. If he were shown filled with crushed shell, he would say, now make Bat s phenomenclogits projects ae more ame wants to live asthe great dreamers of images him. And since 1 have underlined cert all ak the reader to note that the word at is the word like, which at % happens, would8 the pot of space omit a phenomenological nuance. The word lke imitates, ‘whereas the word as implies that one Becomes the person ‘who dreams the daydream, ‘And so, we shall never collect enough daydreams, if we want to understand phenomenologicaly how a snail makes its howe; how this labbiest of creatures constitutes such a Ihard shell; how, inthis ereture that is entirely shut the great commie hythm of winter and spring vibrates none theless. And from the psychological standpoint, this is not a ‘vain problem. Ie arises automatically, infact a soon as we turn to the thing itself, a» phenomenologits put it, as toon at we start to dream of 2 house that grows in propor- tom to the growth of the body that inhabits it. How can the ltd ena grow in its sone prison? This is a natural ‘question, which canbe asked quite naturally. (I should pre fer not to atk i, however, bcawse it takes me back to the questions of my childhood.) But for the Abbé de Vallemont, {eis a question that remains unanswered, and he adds: "When i a matter of nature, we rarely Sind ourselves on familiar ground. At every sep, there Is something that ‘humiliates and mortifes proud minds" In other words, a ‘alls abel, cis howe dhe grows with it inmate, is one of the marvels of the universe. And the ABbé de Vallemont ‘concludes that, in general, (oe cit, p. 255) shells are “sub> Time subjects of contemplation forthe enind” {cis always diverting to se a destroyer of fables become the vitin of a fable, At the beginning ofthe eighteenth cane tury, the Abbé de Vallemont believed no more in the fre [phoenix chan he did in he water phoenix; but he did Delieve in palingeness that, in a sor of mixture of bot we reduce a fern to aes, which we disolve in pure wate then allow the water to evaporate, we obtain lovely tals that have the form of a fern frond. And many other ples could be furnished of dceamers meditating in onder 9 het divover what I sould cal started grow sof formal But ‘dover to the problems with which we are concerned jut now, obe feels in the ABDE de Vallenonts book the {ect of contamination ofthe net fag and tow of the abl At one pin his author speaks of the ansire plant o the amare shell ah thet grows onthe wood of thie oe cit. gs). "Ie nan auemblge of eight sel Ihe wr, “that loo ater likes bunch of tlie = ll of the same subwance os mel hella» The entrance the top, and ie coed by means of ide door that are jpine together Sn mone dese wy, Al thet renann {Fond ot how thi wean sn he ite Sater that ‘cccpy thoe atiially ceated spatmenty are forme” “hfe pgs on, the contamination of the shel the at presenied quite cary. ‘The ell are net ore ‘weird have Bown (p.#40, “I say tha te eferent Tel of my anatre pant ar nests in which the bids tf obser origin hatin Franc, we ell mscreer coer Ss, form ad atch er we have a confusion of genres tht i quite comson to the dayéreams of presintfc epoch Soter docks were fuppsed tobe cold-blooded birds Ii wat sted how these Tiras hatced thir young, 4 tequen reply wert why should their hens te since by natue, ey can waren Iter the eggs nor the nesting? The Abbe de Vallomont Ais (psn) ton“ pry nf thst, ae at fhe Sorbonne, decide that they would witha wor hats rg he iter pot tem inh fh This being the cn, they ean be eaten fn Lent Before ic leaves ts netaell the acter dick, which lah atched ti by» pedonclaed bee 2 learned dream collec legendary hyphens, Mere fp yeas of we and sl are prone wo rs that could be tid tobe inrecjproalanamor. ‘Net and shel are vo rent image tha sect back mat de Pettifer,120 the poeta of space their daydreams. Here forms do not suice to determine ‘uch affinities. Indeed, the principle of the daydreams that elcome such legends goes beyond experience. For here the To live alone; there's a great dream! ‘The mort lifeles, ‘the mot physically absurd image, uch at that of living in Ashll can serve at origin of rach dream, For it ea dream hat, in life's moments of great sxines, i shared by every. ody, both weak and strong, in revolt agaist the injustices men and of fate As, for intance, Salvin, a weak, sad ho takes comfort in his narrow room precily ‘is marrow and permits him to say: "What would Date Confin de mina Cp. VE.12 he poetic of pace do if hadn't this tle room, this rom hat i as deep and secret as a shell? Abt snails don't realize their good fortune.” ‘At times, che image is very unoberusve, hardly percept: bie, but itis effective nonetheles I express the lation ‘of the human being withdrawn into himeell A poet. atthe same time that he dreams of ome childhood house, maga. fied in hismemory to become Lavitile mason oi vont t vewnent Lacie leroe (The old howe where ar and one Come ang) Mon ombre forme un coquilage sonore [le potte cout passe ‘Dans ta coquile de Fombre de 1 corp. (My stad fn roma helt ‘And the pos linens is past. ‘Ime shel his bodys shadow) At other times, the image acquirer is force through the sffect of an isomorphism of all restul space. Then every hospitable hollow is a quiet shell The poet, Gaston Puel, Ce matin je ira lsimple bonhewr da homme along au reux dune borg, Loblongue cogil um eno et ferme a ae dor. Cet une monde La brgue ‘comme unit pow le sommel (This morning shal el he simple hapines ‘ofa man sreched out inthe alow fs Dost, “The oblong shell of» st has cloned over him, He sseeping. An slmond. The bt, lie 3 bed, ‘ponies ep) Maine Aled, ee et ph Cia, Ps Cason Po Le chant ie dae 125 sete ‘Aman, an animal, an almond, all find maximum repose in a shell. The virtues of repose dominate all of these images Since it is my endeavor to multiply all the disectialshad- {ngs by which the imagination confers life upon the sim plest images, I should like to note a few references to the offensive capacity of shells. In the same way that there are tmbusbshowses, there exist tapabells which the imagina- tion makes inio fishnet, pereced with bait and shay Pliny gives the following account of how the pescra suse finds its sustenance: "The blind sell-sh opens up, thus exposing its body to all the small fh playing about. ‘When they sense that they can enter with impunity, they become emboldened and fll the shel. At this moment. the cab, which is on the alert, warns the mussel by means of Ite bite, upon which the latter closes the sel, crushing everything that caught between the valves, then divides {he prey with its partne."™ In the way of animal stories It would be hard to do bet ter. To avold multiplying examples, therefore, I shall re eat this ame fable sinc i is borne ovt by another great fame. In Leonardo da Vines Notebooks, we read: “An ‘ter opens wide at full moon. When the crabe ses thi it Uhrows & pebble ot a twig at the oyster to Keep it from closing and thus have it to feed upon" Da Vind adds the following suitable moral to this fable: “Like the mouth tha, in telling its secret, places ielf at the merey of an fndncreetlixener Extemive peychological research would be needed to ‘determine the value of the moral examples that have al- een drawn trom animal le. T only point this out Tanti, tc tsp The me tbe gue oy (Gewrscinbit, vat np 90. The as dewalt preemie cane of etal” hens ah inte shee hen hela tee ee hey tc poy128 the pots oprpace in paming, howe, sine our encounter with the problem is quite accident But there are names that tll eis own sory such asthe name ofthe Bernard TEs, or herait ‘ab. This molluk does not build its own shell buat ‘rye knows, gest ie in an empty shell Nt changer hen it fees too camped for space The image ofthe hermit crab thst goes to live ia aban: doned shells is sometimes suoiaed with the habits of {he cuckoo, which lay its egg in other nets Ia both ese [Nature seems o enjoy contacting natural morality, The imagination, wheted by exceptions of all Kinds) takes lestre in adding eodres of inning and ngencity to {he characteris of this bid squatter, The euhoo, we ae ‘ol, after making sure thatthe sting motherbid has fone, breaks an eg inthe ex in which plan to ly, Lic lays two egg breaks tw. In pte of identing cal, the cuchoo tao past master fn the art of conse rent it loves to play hide and seck, And yet noone ae cer acen it As lien happens tn real lil the name Is eter known than the beater Who, for instant, came tinguish between the ramet and the blond cuckoo? Aco ing to Abbé Vineebe (oe itp. rs) ceain observes have ‘ainiained that the rset choo I simply the pay echo hen itis young, and that If some "migrate norterd an hers southward, with the result thatthe two species me ‘otto be found inthe same locality iti Deeatee among ‘mien indo and young rarely ve the same county it any wonder, then, th his bird, wih fais for seaecy, should have been credited with such powers of metamorphosis that, for centuries, acording to ALDE Vince Jou (p10) “the ancients Believed thatthe cuckoo be fame transformed into + hawk™ Musing upon a legend ‘ofthis Kindy and realli tha te cuckoo isan gel ‘sugges thatthe soy of turning into a hawk night be summarized ina sarcey altered enion of the Bench proverb: Qui vole tn cu, ele boeuf! (He who seals Snegg will ary ofan ox) 2 The crc yl ements Bm (ee enna ps oh ep shale Then th rl ge en San aceere eaten Seasons neclingteasiacunicase ae acme oeae ees TEL nga ens See aac eee Sr eee metas acy tr ae vs bescraeeeeseh eae Era aolidifying,selteontaning salt shelly manifen this ‘aimy” creatures that inhabit them, play a réle In thelt hhard consistency. Indeed, the principle of solidification is 40 powerful the conquest of hardnet i carried 4 fr, that the shell achieves i enamel beauty a8 though it had ‘ben helped by fre. Beauty of sbstance i added to beauty fof geometrical form. For a poter or an enamels, a shell ‘nut indeed be a subject for inknive meditation. But there ‘ae many animals beneath the enameled glaze of this fitted poter’s plates, that have made the hardest posible hells oftheir akin. If we relive Bernard Pally’ pasion, in the cosmic drama of diferem sors of matter, of in the struggle between clay and fire, we can understand why the Tumble snail chat secreted it own shell should have pro- ide him with food for infinite dreaming how “Among all these daydreams, I shall note here only ‘at furnish the most carious images of the house. The following, enscled: “About a ferress city” (De la ville de is included in Palinys Receple vértable® In Aummaizing it I shall wy 10 retain the amplitude of the Teed wih hail danger of wa” Beard Pliny em century wl, per and enamel One of he ctr becca in Fane Pag Reape ible,»128 the poetic of pace ‘contemplated a design for a “fortress city.” He had lot ‘hope of finding an existing plan “inthe cites bile tay Vitruvius himself could be of no help inthe century of tie ‘anon. So he journeyed through “forests, mountares snd valleys to see if he could find some industrious animal that ‘had built some industrious house.” After inquiring every: where, Paliay begun to muse about “a young slg that was Duilding its house and fortress with its own sliva” Indeed, the passed several months dreaming of » contruction from ‘within, and most of his leisure time was spent walking be- side the sea, where he saw “such a variety of howes and fortresses which certain litle Saher had made from thelr ‘wn liquor and saliva that, from now of, I began to think that here was something that might be applied to my own roject.” “The bates and acts of brigundey” that take place inthe sea being on a larger scale than those that take ‘Place on land, God “had conferred upon each one. the dlilgence and sill needed to build a howe that had been surveyed and consructed by means of sch geometry and architecture, that Solomon in all his wisdom could ever Ihave made anything lke i" With regard to spiraled shell, he wrote tht this shape ‘was not at all “for mere beauty, there's much more to ie than that. You must understand tha there are several fa with such sharply pointed beaks that they would devour ‘mot of the above-mentioned fh if the laters tbodes were in a aight line: but when they are attacked by ther ‘enemies on the threshold, just as they are about 0. wich raw inside, they twist and turn inspiral line and te thi way, the foe can do them no harm.” ‘Meanwhile, someone brought Palisy two large shells from Guineas: “A murex and a whelk” The murex being the weaker must be the best defended, according to Pally philosophy. As a matter of fact, the sbell having “a mum. ber of rather large points around the edges, I deided that these homs had been put there for a purpose, which wat for defense of the forrest.” Ye has seemed necesary to give all theve preliminary 29 sete desl, beni ey sow that Play wt looking foe nature! inspieton. He toh nahing eter or coe Stucing hit forest tha to “ake the fore of the ‘ove senoned mex an example” Wathen in find ware work on his pln Inthe Yer eet he {eres cy, there wast be tm pen uae on ich the foverors howe would be locked. Saring om hs Siiue sngie set wold ron foot case woe the tose on a we cea tat pom Be ape ofthe ‘sre; tin wo oangonabapel Gri All oom und inion in'tis qurope wining set wee toe Sato the ine of the forse 0 Cat the ack ofthe Sra would coe one adios val The lat of the howell wa o backup asia the cy wall which would form agate sa NGtinard Pay alge a length on the advantage of sta ts, en fu a fl ey Shere would slay remain Pity of eres Ia a, wtp once of rere it cried te fener ine ofthe inage, Nor would enemy cxanon ico tlw threveat nd rake the eto te cle Sy. any nly would beat appa the Spbinch bate nareudcn had heen whe hey ted to ack ed hl Th is acer, which may acento lon tothe ender A he vs ae nein het of mined imager am prct, A pycologit who Pays text ne by ne wou at ae edo rot images hare wtnenes of ein tiation Tis Ainple scans pychoiogaly compen: Bat for un in Ais cncary, te enn of ich image longer Gotrncing” We no longs tae to belne in ata hod when tlltary men alld "hedgehog" de fees they know shat they en fn he domain ot the a inthe of mpi metaphor Ic weld be & gene Tower, if we were 10 conte te gee tad Palins saiorme ors simple neuer, This image that has inhabited rest nnd190 the poetics of space As for myelin leurely book ofthis kind, in which ej ll he images Tas obliged 1 Unger over hit ‘And in order to show that, through the simple play of the imagination, any image may be increased in it, I should like 10 quote the following poem, in which a snail sume the dimensions ofa village" Cen um ergot énorme (Qu dicnd de la montagne Eile ruisessPacompagne ‘Desa bave blanche Teta views, il ne plu ge come Cents out elocer eae, (ee gant malt Decenting the mowatnin ‘Wiha ide ‘Very only one hor et ‘Whi iss shoe, square belly) ‘And the poeta: Le cies es coils (The mano ie shell...) ‘Buc there are other passages in Bernard Palisy’s works wich acentuate ths predestined image tha we are obliged {to recognize in his shellRouse experience. Av it happens this potential constructor of a ahelLfortrest wat also an architect and Jandscape gardener, and to complement his plans for gardens, he added plane for what he called Phambera! These “chamber were place of retreat that were as rough and rocky on the outide as an oyster shell: “The exterior of the aforementioned chamber,” wrote Palsey3 “will be of masonry made with large uncut stones {in order that the outside should not seem to have been ‘mam aile” Inside, onthe contrary, he would like it to be nt Rene abn dvr he. 1st stele 1s highly polished at the inside of a shell: "When the Inasonry is nse, I want to cover Se with several layers, of enameling, from the top of the vaulted ceiling down to the Boor. This done, I should like to builé a big fre ini ‘until the aforesaid enameling hat melted and coated ihe afore masonry... In this way, the “inside of the chamber would sem tobe made of one piece... and would be o highly plished thatthe Haards and eardhworms that ome in there would see themscive a in a mirror.” "This indoor Bre lighted for the purpote of enameling bricks isa far ery from the “blaze” we light in our time t9 “ary the plate.” Here, peshaps,Palissyrecapered visions ‘of his potter’ kil, in which the fie left brick tears on the walls In any cae, am extraordinary image demands ex CGnordinary means, Here a man wants to live in a shell Hie wants the walls that protec him to be as smoothly poled and as frm ae if his senive esh had to come in {iret contact with them. The shell confers a daydream of [ptely physical intimacy. Bernard Palisys daydream ex Prenes the fonction of inhabiting in tems of touch. ‘Because dominant images tend to combine, his fourth chamber i synthesis of house shell and cave: The inside ‘masonry will be 20 skilfully executed," he wrote (loc. cit, pfs) "that ie wil appear to be imply a rock that has been Followed out in order to cut stone from the interior: and the sforesid chamber will be ewsted and humped with Several skewed humps and concavities having nelther ap- Pearance nor form of either the chseler’s art or of work done by human hands; and che ceiling vaults will be 0 fortaous that they will look as though they are about 10 fall, for the reason that there will be several pendant Tumpe” Needle to ay, the incide of thie spiraled house Will sso be covered with enamel. Ic will be a eave in the form of a coiled shell. Thus, by means of a great sum of labor, tis cunning architect sceeeded in making ‘atursl dwelling of i. To accentuate the natural char ‘ofthe chamber he had it covered with earth "so that, planted several tees the aforesald earth, ie would seem to have been built.” In other words, the real home182 the pots ot space ‘of this man of the earth was rubterrnean. He wanted to live in the heat of a rock, or sball we say, in the shell of 4@ rock. The pendant hurmps il this dwelling with 4 night ‘are dread of being crushed, while the spiral that pene. trates deep into the rock gives an impretion of anguished depth. But a being who deies to live underground i able to dominate commonplace fears. In his daydreams, Bernard aliny was her of subterranean life In his imagination the derived pleasire~so he said—from the fear manifested by a dog barking at the entrance ofa cave; and the seme thing was true ofthe hesitation, on the part ofa visitor «9 ‘enter further int» the tortuous Inbyrinth, Here the tell. ‘ave fs aho a “Terres city” for a man alone, a man who loves complete solitude, and who knows how to defend and Drotect himself with simple images. There's no need of a fate, no need of m ironstimmed door; people ste afraid to In any case an important phenomenological investiga tion remains to be made on the subject of dark entrance halle ‘With nests, with shellmat the risk of wearyng the rader— have multiplied the images that seem to me to ilatrst the function of inhabiting in elementary forms which may ‘be too remotely imagined. Here one senses clearly that this isa mixed problen of imagination and observation. Ihave simply wanted to show that whenever life seks to shelter, protect, cover of hide itself, the imagination sympathies ‘with the being) that inbabits the protevied space, The imagination expeciences protection in all is nuances of security, from life in the most material of shells, to more subtle concealmert through imitation of surfaces At the poet Noél Amand express i, being seeks dssimlaton in similarity To be in safety under cover of a eolr is exry ‘ng the tranquility of inhabiting to the point of calming tion, not to say, inprudence. Shade, too, can be inhabited, Not Arad da Pabouhe Pai ‘Alter this stay of shell, we could, of coure, tell « number (of stories about the ture which, at the animal with the howe that walks, would lend itelf to much facile com. ‘mentary. However, this commentary would only ilutrate with new examples themes that have already been treated 1 shall therefore forego writing a chapter on the turtle's house ‘But since slight contradictions to primal images can oe- casionally simulate the imagination I should like to com. ‘ment upon a pasage fom the Flemish travel notes of the Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungareti! At the home ofthe poet Franz Hellens~only poets possess such treaures—Ungatett saw a woodcut “depicting the fury of woll which, having stacked a curl that had withdrawn sno its bony carapace, ‘went mad, without having appeaed its hunger” “These three lines keep coming back to my mind, and 1 tell myelf endless stories around them. Ice the wolf ariv- ing from a distant, famineetricken land. 1 is lean and Inangry looking, its tongue hanging out, red and feverish Ac that moment, what should come aut fom under « bush ‘but a turtle, considered by epicure the world over to be 4 particularly delicate morsel With one leap, the ‘wolf sei its prey, but the curl, which s endowed by nature With unusual alacity when it wants to withdraw head, limbs and tail into it house, is quicker than the woll. For the famished wol, itis now nothing but a stone on the read, ‘One hardly knows which side to tke in this dramatic + fncidene of unger. E have tied to be impartial. 1 don't Hike wolves. But for once, the curtle might have refrained ‘rom actin. And Ungaret, who hid thought lengthily About the engraving said explicidly ha the artist had wwe ‘6eded in making "the wot likeable sad the turtle odious.” (A Phenomenologist would have many comments to make ‘this commentary! ‘OF course, the paychologeal inter: exceeds the fact, since no drawn line can inter rae eure eeplenn, th oe 9184 the pote of pace lini box ace of ‘tvece,ihas become 4 one of inpenceble si ognony. ‘The phenanenolog hereto hve ‘ite ie fable ofthe wol sod the tude He wll kee to elevate the drama to the coe lel and rom hone edie upon woriunger, To put tare Sid ae Btenomelorse would Heed to hav. or one Noses the ental ofthe wal eed wid pre that hs toed ‘uta sone TE had reproduction of an engraving ofthis Lind, 1 should we hem iflerentate aad nase peopl ies tnd the depth of their partipon fn hunger tase throughout the wor Almont ure this pericpation ‘would marifet a can ambiguiy, Some weal give on {the dominen ofthe worytlingfancon and eee Play ofthe old el iage sured. They woud fe pleture inthe wicked anal rsnenent ta oop ‘up leis deeves at te tare that witirer Ina St ‘thes, however, hang been lene by Ungar ee Prettion, might reve the sation, Suh's eval ble that has long lin mane ini teak coud fave a rejuvenating fet on the fonction of string For here the nagiation makers essa whieh oe ‘eof advantage phenomenslogs Revert of ts st tay sem to have oly ight documentary nce en oe allefeizee schol of phenomenologite Who take te Wend et nt dee iio Pet a ate conscious of being of and in the word But the poleg Tomes more complied for s phenomenclogi of te ‘nagination constantly contoned with the soaogtans ol the world. And what ir more the imagination, by tree ‘tis tesnen and town pci acy, an make ioe ital ito whats ange. Wiha single poet the imagination consoat un withsnew worl Fro hee on the detail tkes precedence ovr the patent Simple image, i ie new, wil open up an ie wes UW ooked at through the ousand window of fang oe vot ist a sae of constant change Te Berto pe trea mel tothe probe of phenomenaogy By ee 185 shee ees Eid ee eri ie er Uae ihe nue pce contsna nothing that i ii in